|| Turning point for Jodha ||

I am an old fan. I used to be active in the forum long back when the show was on. But I had to leave for personal reasons. Even now I am undergoing some changes in me life. Anyway, I was re-watching Jodha Akbar for the 5th time - yes, I am a huge fan- couple of days back and I noticed something I never noticed before. When and how did Jodha start falling for Jalal? What made her change her mind about him?

There was a specific point in her life which changed her for better. When I saw the serial for the first time, it was all episode by episode. Now when I saw the whole story in its entirety, there was turning point for her in the story. It was beautiful and subtle. I missed that completely till now.

The first time Jodha comes to know about Jalal is the destruction of her beloved Kali temple, and the humiliation of Moti bai from his soldiers. The first thing she felt about him was that he is not 'SAFE'. She felt unsafe and threatened by him. That feeling of helplessness, feeling unsafe, unprotected, and un-anchored followed her throughout. Be it during her fiance's death or during her wedding to Jalal. His behavior, his threats, and his nature only supported her feeling of 'SAFETY'. She always felt physically, emotionally, and spiritually threatened by him. What happened after her wedding, i.e. Ruqaiya's miscarriage etc added to her feeling of being UNSAFE. Moti Bai's situation because of Adham Khan did not help either.

This feeling of being unsafe is the reason she was always so defensive. By being rude, defensive, or add any behavior towards Jalal, it always came from the same place of feeling UNSAFE.

All that changed during their trip back to Agra after Sukanya's wedding. Two things happened during that time. First, she almost dies due to cold. Second, her identity was threatened when she was asked to change her religion.

She was in a position of physical and emotional vulnerability when she was unconscious due to cold. If Jalal had slept with her that day, no one would bat an eyelash. No would support her if she complained about it because it was his 'right' as a husband. Our society is incapable of accepting hard truths of Marital Rape even in 2018, forget about 16th century. He would have been completely justified sleeping with her.

And then she was presented a scenario where her identity, her spirituality was threatened when everyone asked to change her religion. Again, the odds were stacked against her. No one would think twice about her choices and wishes in this case as well.

In both cases, it was Jalal who stood with her. In spite of law, moralities, and ethics of that time was with him, and no matter that his actions of sleeping with Jodha and asking her to convert her religion were completely acceptable in that society, he did not use his power on her. He found another way to save her from cold. He left her with CHOICE about her religion, a precious little thing which was not there with her till then.

In a matter of few days, he PROTECTED her physically, emotionally, and spiritually, against all odds, in spite of threats to his throne. For the first time since her marriage, she felt SAFE. The moment she felt SAFE, we can see change in her behavior. She let her true self shine, she became more outgoing. She involved herself in goings of the palace and Agra, whereas before she kept herself away from others, and everything. She never opened her mouth unless it was related to her.

And that was the turning point for Jodha. The more she opened up, the more Jalal fell in love. And this is the reason why Jalal felt that love before her. He started the journey of love way before Jodha.

Love

Kshithi

PS: Apologies for the long post! 😳

sadly they could not keep the beauty of the characters for long , nor maintained the balance...😔